My 14-year-old Son Beat His Stepmother Unconscious At Her Own Wedding. My Entire Family Disowned Him Until He Showed Us What Was On His Phone. Now She Is Trying To Frame Me For A Felony To Keep Us Quiet?

Uncovering the Lies

Over the next few days, everything moved fast but also painfully slow. Casey got the phone records from my carrier that proved I never sent those messages. The metadata showed they were created on Lauren’s phone using a third-party app. Casey also found that Lauren had searched for “how to fake text messages for court” and spoofing apps that look real on her laptop the week before the wedding.

The police detective called Casey to say they were no longer considering me a suspect, but I was still a key witness.

My phone rang while I was still in the parking lot and the screen showed a military number. Chandler Birgrove from JAG was on the line, telling me my security clearance was now under review due to the ongoing investigation. He said my emergency leave was extended, but I was placed on administrative hold, which meant I couldn’t return to duty until this mess was cleared up. I sat in my car feeling like my whole career was falling apart while my kids needed me most.

Casey called right after and said she’d gotten copies of those fake screenshots Lauren had shown the police. She was looking at them on her computer and immediately noticed the font was wrong for my phone model. The timestamp formatting didn’t match either, and some of the messages had different spacing than others.

She’d already called in Cory Cedlan, who specialized in proving when digital evidence was fake. She was driving over to her office right now to examine everything properly.

Meanwhile, Devon Pinehire from victim services called to say she’d arranged for Tommy to have a medical exam at the children’s hospital that afternoon. I drove him there myself, but when we got to the exam room they told me I had to wait in the hallway.

Tommy looked so small walking in there with just the nurse and doctor. I paced that hallway for 3 hours, checking my phone every few minutes and trying not to think about what they might find. The nurse brought him juice boxes twice, and each time I caught a glimpse of him sitting on the exam table in a hospital gown.

When they finally finished, Tommy came out holding a stuffed bear they’d given him and wouldn’t look me in the eyes. Devon walked out with a thick folder of documentation and told me they’d found evidence consistent with his disclosure.

The Backlash

My phone started buzzing with voicemails from Conrad, who was losing his mind about not being able to see Tommy. The safety plan required all visits to be supervised now, and he was screaming into my voicemail about how this was all my fault.

First message he blamed me for turning our son against Lauren. Second message he blamed Lauren for being a predator. Third message he blamed our son for ruining his wedding. Fourth message he was back to blaming me for not warning him about Lauren, even though I’d literally just found out myself. His parents were calling too, but I deleted those without listening.

Lauren posted bail that same day using her parents’ money, and within hours her lawyer had filed a restraining order against me. The paperwork claimed I’d orchestrated the whole situation to get custody of Tommy and that I’d coached my son to attack her. She was painting herself as the victim of a jealous ex-wife scheme. Casey said this was typical predator behavior, trying to flip a narrative.

The next morning was my son’s CPS interview with Derek Oakidge at the Children’s Advocacy Center. My son sat in that little room with the cameras and told Derek everything in detail. He gave exact dates when he told his dad about the abuse 3 months ago. He remembered the specific words his grandfather used when he laughed it off. He knew what his aunt was wearing the day she told him not to be dramatic. He even remembered what TV show was on when his uncle said he should be grateful.

Derek wrote everything down and created an official timeline of every adult who’d been told and failed to act.

Living in Limbo

The safety plan they put in place meant both boys had to stay at my friend’s house with me only allowed there during approved hours. We set up a weird routine where I’d arrive at 7:00 in the morning to get them ready for school, I’d leave when they got on the bus, and come back at 3:00 when they got home. I had to leave again at 8 every night, which killed me because that’s when Tommy had the worst nightmares.

My friend would text me updates about him crying for me, but I wasn’t allowed to come back until morning. We lived like this for weeks waiting for court dates and investigations to move forward.

Then an email came from Tommy’s school counselor that made me sick. She’d pulled his records going back a year and found clear changes starting 6 months ago, right when Lauren moved in. His grades dropped from A’s to C’s and he’d gone from never missing school to having 12 absences. His teacher had noted he’d become withdrawn and stopped participating in class. Another teacher wrote that he’d started falling asleep at his desk.

The counselor had even called Conrad about it, but he’d said Tommy was “just adjusting to having a new stepmom.” All these warning signs had been documented and ignored while that monster was hurting him.